Early Sunshine
by Stargate-Lover-Steph
Summary: A fic inspired by the recent early sunshine we had. Frankie, Boyd and a trip to the beach.


"Please, Boyd!" Frankie upping her grovelling level as she batted her eyes at him.

"Why can't we just go for a walk? Or a nice lunch somewhere? The beach, in February, you have got to be kidding me, Frankie." Boyd replied looking over the top of his glass as he lowered the morning paper he was reading.

"Stop being such a grouch. It's sunny and warm, and it's the first decent weather we've had. Please, I want to get out of the city, get away from the noise and the chaos, just enjoy the peace." Seeing him take his glasses and drop the paper onto the table as she explained why she wanted to go to the beach.

"If I agree, and only if, which beach were you thinking of?" Seeing Frankies eyes light up when he asked her which beach.

As soon as he asked which beach she was thinking of going to she knew she had won. She pretended to think about where she wanted to go, yet already knowing which beach she wanted to visit.

"What about Camber Sands?" Knowing she was pushing her luck a little bit by picking somewhere that was two hours drive away.

"Now you're definitely taking the piss. Why all the way up there? We have closer beaches, Frankie." Boyd really wishing he hadn't even entered into this conversation.

"Because I like it there. It reminds me of summer holidays, and family, and laughter. Of being a carefree child who's biggest and hardest decision was what ice cream I wanted. It's still early." Glancing up at the clock on the wall before looking back at Boyd. "I can pack a picnic while you get ready. We can stop off for a drink on the way, enjoy the scenery. Please, Peter." The use of his given name being the ball breaker.

"You know how to make me say yes, don't you?" Feigning annoyance as he attempted to glare at Frankie. "Get ready then. I'll go take a shower and get ready." Seeing and hearing Frankie squeal as she all but jumped out her seat and went towards him.

"Thank you," Frankie mumbled, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind and kissing his cheek.

Boyd just grunted as she let go of him, he was not going to let her know that he was looking forward to the trip. He watched her nearly skip out the room in the direction of the garage, no doubt to find the picnic basket. Making Frankie happy made him happy, but that was information he didn't need to share. Getting up from the table he ran his hand over his beard, the hair just a little longer than normal but not too long, at least not yet. He could skip the shave and just get showered and dressed, which meant getting Frankie out the house quicker.

Frankie was sat at the kitchen table when Boyd came downstairs, pale purple shirt and dark grey pinstripe trousers on. He saw she had changed from jeans into shorts and a red and white girly top. Frankie didn't do shorts, or dresses, or anything that involved showing off her legs. Frankie had very nice legs, very flexible legs. Imagining the things Frankie's legs could do was not going to get them out of the house.

"You ready?" Boyd asked as he gave his head a shake to clear out the image of Frankie's legs on his shoulders.

"Ready," Frankie replied, her voice happy and very girly.

"You can drive there." Throwing the keys to his car at Frankie, which Frankie caught single-handed.

Frankie opened the car as she stepped out the front door and threw her keys at Boyd for him to lock up. Once she had the picnic basket and blankets in the boot she got in and started the car, revving the engine a couple of times just to annoy Boyd as he walked down the path to the car. When he got in the passenger seat he just scowled at Frankie, Frankie just laughing as she waited for him to put his seat belt on. Frankie had the car at the end of the street in less than three seconds, Boyd now remembering why he hated letting Frankie drive his car. Frankie wasn't so happy ten minutes later when every single light she had hit was red and the traffic was bumper to bumper.

"And this is why I hate the city." Frankie's temper slowly building as she moved the car a couple of feet before stopping again.

"Now, now. As long as we get there in one piece, Frances." Knowing the use of her given name drove her nuts.

"Okay, Pete." Deciding two could play the name game.

Boyd shut up after that, Frankie smirking as she finally found a slot and overtook the car in front only to be stopped by another red light. It took well over an hour to get out of the city and on to the motorway, a journey they could do in forty minutes normally. Frankie was glad when the road opened up and she could floor the car, blow the cobwebs out the engine as her dad used to call it.

"The beach isn't going anywhere, Frankie. What's the rush?" Boyd watching the speed on the car slowly wavering just above sixty.

"I want my lunch, and get to the beach before the tide turns and we have no beach left." The car hitting seventy miles an hour.

"You any idea where we are stopping for lunch?" Boyd seeing cars go past in a slight blur.

"Of course, I've stuck an address in google maps." Pointing to her phone which she had managed to hook up without his knowledge.

"I'll just watch the world go by in a blur. Slow down for fuck sake, you're hitting seventy-five." Seeing Frankie glance at the dash and apply gentle pressure to the brake.

Boyd kept a close eye on the speed as Frankie drove, Frankie scowling at him as she slowed down and took a turn off the motorway on to some small narrow country road following the directions the phone gave her.

"Where the hell are we going?" Boyd asked as the phone gave another direction.

"There." Frankie pointing to the pub just ahead of them at the entrance to a small village.

"The Wheel Inn, well isn't that a quaint little village pub." Boyd looking at the side of the pub and the outside beer garden at the back of it.

"Shut up. And if you don't like my driving you drive to the beach, and home again." Turning the engine off and removing the keys from the ignition.

"Let's eat, I'm sure they'll do a nice steak in here." Boyd smiling as he got out the car.

Frankie just shook her head, following Boyd out the car and towards the pub, locking the car as she walked away.

"We sitting outside?" Boyd stopping and looking at Frankie.

"Sure, it's a nice warm day so let's enjoy it." Boyd leading the way to the outside garden.

Boyd took a seat and picked the menu up, Frankie sitting opposite him and doing the same. Frankie was more interested in watching Boyd than looking at the menu, seeing his face light up when he saw the steak on the menu.

"Found the steak did we?" Boyd looking up at Frankie, his grin growing as he saw her smile.

"Proper steak, medium rare, thick cut chips, and vegetables. What more could I ask for?" Frankie now looking at the menu.

"I'll have the fish, and a Diet Coke." Frankie putting the menu back on the table as Boyd went to stand up.

Boyd moved pasts Frankie but stopped just behind her, leaning down and kissing her cheek first then moved to her lips. It was just a light peak, followed by another before he stood up and his finger stroked her cheek where he had kissed her. Frankie smiled, the smile on Boyds face as he walked away giving her that butterfly feeling in her stomach. She loved him, and he loved her, yet neither of them said it often. They didn't need to, it was obvious in the way they did things. The small things showed her he loved her, like how he made her coffee when he heard her get up, and how her clothes were always neatly ironed in the wardrobe beside his. How there was always chocolate in the fridge even though he didn't eat it, and how as soon as he sat beside her his hand would either be around hers or his arm would go around her shoulder. There was also the moments when he was so worn down and vulnerable when he would curl up in her lap as she stroked her fingers through his hair and rub her hand up and down his back. Boyd was a very private man, and for him to show her that side of him proved his love for her more than a ring or a wedding ever would.

She was just as bad as showing emotions though, saying that she loved him. She would try to show him in small gestures. Making his favourite meal even though she hated medium rare steak. Buying all the healthy snacks he ate when she preferred chocolate and biscuits. Taking the time to listen while he ranted and raved about the latest case and how shit everything was. She was also there when he crumbled when his walls fell and she would hold him as tight as she could as he sobbed into her chest. Love wasn't about the words, it was about being there for the other person when they needed you the most.

"You're deep in thought." Boyd appearing as if by magic at her side with two glasses in his hand.

"Yeah, just thinking." Frankie watching as Boyd sat down beside her instead of opposite her.

"You okay?" Giving her shoulder a playful nudge before he took a sip of his pint.

"I'm fine." Looking at the disbelieving look on Boyd's face. "I am, it's just," pausing mid-sentence. "I love you." The words soft and a little hesitant.

Boyd was a little surprised by Frankie's words, especially out in public in broad daylight. Slipping one arm around her waist, he used his other hand to take hold of her hand. Frankie shuffled closer and lay her head on his shoulder, his head resting on top of hers.

"I love you too." His own words a mere whisper as he felt Frankie squeeze his fingers.

Neither moved, both lost in the spontaneous and tender moment they were having. It wasn't until a man carrying two plates came to the table did they break apart, both looking a little sheepish after such a public display of affection. The man put the plates and cutlery on the table, telling them to enjoy their meal before walking away.

"Wow, this looks good." Frankie picking up her knife and fork and cutting into her fish.

"Now there's a nice piece of meat." Boyd stabbing his fork into the still pinkish steak.

"That's disgusting. Give it a minute and it will get up and start mooing or run away to chew some grass, either is an option looking at the colour of that." Frankie making gagging sounds as she watched Boyd cut a piece off the steak and start to chew it.

Frankie turned back to her own meal, at least the fish was cooked properly. As they ate Boyd asked Frankie why the beach was so special, so she told him about family trips to the beach, and not just Camber Sands. She told him of other beaches she had visited, Brighton being one of the last ones she had been to with both her parents. After her father died her mother refused to go away again, Frankie being just seventeen when he passed away. The following year she took her first holiday abroad with some mates from uni, a glorified piss up, Sun, sea and sex. Even at uni, it hasn't really changed, holidays spent in the sun with a different man every time. Frankie finished her meal and put her cutlery down, pushing the plate aside and looking at Boyd, his body language showing how uncomfortable he was with what Frankie had just told him.

"Crap, I'm sorry. Too much information for my current boyfriend to handle." Giving his thigh a squeeze under the table.

"It's okay, I just, I've never heard you speak so candidly about your past, so open. I knew you were no saint, but I didn't realise you had such a good time in your youth." Boyd giving up on the side salad and pushing his plate aside away as well

"Ohhh, do I detect a jealous streak coming out there?" Trying to nudge Boyd but not really doing anything at all.

"No." Boyd snapped back rather too quickly, Frankie just raising her eyebrow as she looked at him. "Okay, maybe just a tiny one, okay." Boyd finishing his pint in three mouthfuls.

"Awww, that's sweet." Reaching up to kiss his cheek. "Even though you knew I lived on a beach in Cyprus with Andreas. You aren't exactly mister keep it your trousers, are you? Two wives and god only knows how many lovers. You going to sit there an tell me you didn't have girls dropping at feet back in the day?" Taking a drink of coke as she saw Boyd shift uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah, I thought so. And you have had nearly nineteen years extra to get laid." Boyd growling at her comment.

"Shut up, Frankie." Boyd managed to say before he stood up and stretched his arms.

Frankie finished her drink and stood up, going to stand beside Boyd as he waited for her. They walked back to the car and Frankie opened it, climbing in and starting the engine. Once Boyd was in Frankie set out back towards the beach. When they arrived at the beach Frankie was like a school kid, all excited and bouncy. She practically dragged Boyd over the sand dunes to the beach, taking her shoes off as soon as her feet hit the sand.

"This is more beautiful than I remember it being." Frankie digging her bare toes into the warm, dry sand.

"It is beautiful. Let's find a spot to sit down then." Boyd letting Frankie again drag him across the beach.

When Frankie stopped she turned to Boyd and took the blanket from on top of the picnic basket, shaking it out before laying it on the sand. Boyd just watched her, straightening the corners before sitting down. Placing the basket beside the blanket he sat down beside her, getting out the suntan lotion out the basket and turning to Frankie. Frankie went to take it but he stopped her, flipping open the cap and squirting some into the palm of his hand. Boyd took his time, making sure every inch of her pale, freckled covered skin was covered.

"You can do your face." Passing Frankie the bottle when he was sure he had covered every bit of exposed skin from her toes up to her neck and chest.

Frankie took the bottle and used a small amount to cover her face, passing him the bottle as she lay down on her back, quickly rolling on her front and turning her head to face him. Boyd put the bottle back in the basket and pulled out a book he had brought with him, getting his glasses out his shirt pocket. The sun was warm on his back and neck, Frankie was sprawled out beside him, her long freckle covered legs again taking his mind places he wasn't to dwell on. Turning back to his book he opened it on the page he had marked, maybe this wasn't such a bad way to spend his day off.


End file.
